


Into the Dark

by tirsynni



Series: Fix It Thorki Ficlets [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 00:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15569346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tirsynni/pseuds/tirsynni
Summary: Thor refused to let his brother fall.





	Into the Dark

Eternity glowed black beneath him, his father’s hold on his ankle the only thing stopping him from falling. Several feet from him, Loki dangled from the end of Gungnir, somehow seeming closer to the void than he was to Thor. He looked past Thor like Thor didn’t exist, that damned madness still shining in his damp eyes. He looked past Thor to  _ Odin _ , and what had Thor missed? What had happened to lead them here?

Thor could barely hear Loki’s screams over the howling in his mind. Tears shone in his brother’s fevered eyes, and desperation twisted his mouth. Loki, who lied to him about their  _ own father’s death _ , Loki who fought him, Loki who screamed at him and fought him…

What madness had stolen his little brother? What caused this storm?

Thor couldn’t hear their father’s response but saw it strike his brother, saw the grief shatter something in him. It shifted his brother’s face into something young, broken, and if he could just  _ reach _ Loki, then he could --

Thor saw his little brother’s face grow smooth, calm.  _ Accepting _ . Like a warrior who realized he was not walking away from the battlefield, who looked down at their bloody guts and surrendered the fight. Thor met his brother’s eyes, and a dead man stared back.

No.  _ No. _

In countless battles Thor fought alongside Loki, both Loki’s shield and Loki’s sword, and the same instinct which helped then moved him now. Even as he saw his brother’s hand slip on the spear, Thor kicked away from his father’s hand. Odin shouted but Thor didn’t hear the words, only focused on this fight.

Loki’s eyes widened but it was too late: he already let go. Already falling. Thor reached for that extended hand and threw the spear behind him to Odin, calling for his  _ own _ weapon.

Loki seemed to fall so slowly but stayed so far away, eyes wide and stunned and face white. Behind him, a vortex spun, the shattered Bifrost and Thor knew naught else, just that they were falling toward it together. Odin still shouted, voice hoarse and words lost still, and Thor wondered for a heartbeat if Odin would lose both his sons this day.

Then Mjolnir slapped his hand, her familiar voice like thunder, and Thor swung her toward Loki. Loki only stared at him, lost, as Thor grabbed his limp hand. Cold and loose but slender enough for Thor to clutch it in a fierce grip. 

Now they fell, faster, pushed by Mjolnir toward the void. Thor ignored it and the fear clutching his heart and spun Mjolnir toward  _ home _ . She pulled, stopping their descent, but the vortex pulled, too, and for a terrifying moment, they froze in the middle.

_ No _ . Thor roared and Mjolnir sang a battlecry and lightning flared. At last, they dragged upward, feeling like they were crawling through mud homeward. In the distance, Thor saw Odin, hand outstretched, and felt his power adding to his.

They could do this.  _ They could do this _ . The vortex, inch by agonizing inch, loosened its grip.

As if he felt it, too, Loki suddenly howled like a mad beast and jerked at his hand. “No!” he wailed. “Let me go!”

Thor tightened his grip just in time for a dagger to bite into his wrist. He snarled but refused to let go. “Stop it, Loki!” he snapped, turning to see Loki pull out the dagger and aim for his  _ own _ wrist. Thor roared and yanked Loki toward his chest, and the dagger sailed into the nothing.

“No, no!” Loki shrieked and another magic joined their father’s then, pulling them to safety. Loki howled in Thor’s ear, a wild, broken sound, and Thor grimaced and held him as close as he could as Odin’s and Frigga’s magic pulled them onto the remains of the bridge.

As soon as they landed, Thor released Mjolnir to wrap both arms around Loki, but it seemed as if the fight had left Loki. Loki stared into the abyss with blank eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. His wrist bled from where his knife had nicked him, similar to the bleeding wound on Thor’s own.

“Loki,” Thor whispered into his hair, “ _ Brother _ , why…” Why so many things, but he settled for the worst. “Why let go? Whatever madness has claimed you, we can fight it! Do not bar yourself from Valhalla for this foolishness!”

At that, Loki began to laugh. He threw his head back and cackled with it, tears still streaming down his cheeks, not noticing when their parents knelt beside them, Frigga’s tears matching his. “Valhalla,” he gasped. “Valhalla! Monsters do not go to Valhalla. My place awaits me in Hel!”

“No, Loki,” Odin whispered, pained like Thor had never heard before. Beside him, Frigga sat with hands extended toward Loki, eyes bright with tears and grief. Somehow, despite them all sitting on the bridge, safe, Loki still seemed closer to the void than to them.

“No.”

**Author's Note:**

> For more Thorki and fandom, check me out on [tumblr](http://tirsynni.tumblr.com/)!


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